Reclining chairs



March 3, 1959 F. F. SCHLJEPI- l'ACKE 2,375,813

RECLINING CHAIRS Filed May 3, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 3, 1959 F. -F. sc uEPHA'ckE RECLINING CHAIRS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 3, 1957 I INVENTOR FRIDTJOF F. SCHLIEPHAOKE 7 E ATTo hNEY Patented Mar. 3, 1959 United States Patent Oflice RECLINING CHAIRS Fridtjof F. Schliephacke, Berlin-Schmargendorf, Germany, assignor to Anton Lorenz, Boynton Beach, Fla.

Application May a, 1957, Serial No. 656,905

3 Claims. e1. 155-106) This invention relates to chairs and pertains particularly to reclining chairs having a leg rest which moves into position to support the legs as the chair moves into reclining position.

It is an object of the invention to provide a reclining chair of the type described which is extremely simple in construction and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side view of a chair embodying the invention, one side frame of the chair being broken away, the chair being shown in upright position.

Figure 2. is a similar view showing the chair in reclining position.

Figure 3 is a perspective view, partly broken away.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the chair comprises a base unit comprising two spaced side frames 1 and 2 which may be rigidly connected together in any suitable manner,

. as by the connecting frames 3, 3a. The side frames may be of any suitable construction, wood or metal, and may be upholstered or not, as desired.

Located between the side frames 1 and 2 and supported thereon is a reclining seat unit comprising a seat 4 and backrest 5. The seat and backrest may be of any suitable construction, wood or metal, and may be upholstered or not, as desired. As shown, the seat is of conventional upholstered construction having .side frames 6, only one of which is shown, it being understood that the side frames are connected together in any suitable manner, as by cross frames 7, to support an upholstered seat cushion 8. The side frames 6 extend parallel to the side frames 1 and 2'but are spaced inwardly therefrom.

The rear portion of the seat unit is mounted on the side frames 1 and 2 for translational, reciprocating movement with respect thereto. The leg rest 10 is pivotally mounted on the side frames for swinging movement with respect thereto, and the leg rest is additionally connected to the seat unit so that reciprocating movement of the seat unit causes swinging movement of the leg rest. In the following description of the mounting of the seat unit on the side frames and of the mounting of the leg rest and of the connections between the leg rest and the seat frame, it will be understood that the parts shown in the drawings on one side of the chair are duplicated on the other side.

The means for mounting the rear portion of the seat unit on the side frames comprises a pair of tracks 11 which are rigidly mounted on the side frames in position to engage the rollers 12 mounted on brackets 13 connected to the seat frames 6. The tracks 11 are provided with abutments 14 at the front ends thereof to limit the forward movement of the seat unit and with abutments 15 at the rear ends thereof to limit the rearward move ment of the seat unit. If desired, the brackets 13 may be extended below the tracks to carry studs 16 which engage the under surfaces of the tracks in order to lock the seat unit to the base so that they will not separate, if, for example, the chair is lifted by thejseat unit. They will also prevent the seat unit from over-running the abutments 14 and 15.

The leg rest is also of any suitable construction, either upholstered or not, as desired. In theembodiment illustrated, the leg rest is upholstered and includes side frames 20 connected together in any suitable manner, as by cross frames 21 and 22. The leg rest is mounted for pivotal movement on the base frame by means of arms 23 which are rigidly connected to the leg rest side frames 20 and are pivotally mounted on bolts 24 mounted in the side frames 1 and 2.

The connections between the leg rest and the seat unit comprise levers 27 pivotally mounted at points intermediate of the ends of the levers on bolts 28 mounted in the side frames 1 and 2. One end of each of said levers is pivotally connected to the seat unit by means of bolt 29 mounted in the seat unit side frames 6, preferably near the front ends thereof. The other end of each of said levers is pivotally connected to a link 30 by a pivot pin 31, and said links are pivotally connected to the leg rest by pivot pins 32 passing through arms 33 secured to the leg rest side frames 20.

Brackets -34 are secured to the side frames 1 and 2. The said brackets each have a horizontal flange 35 extending beneath the seat unit side frames 6 in position to engage and support the front end of the seat unit both in the upright position as shown in Figure l, and in the reclining position as shown in Figure 2.

In the upright position of the chair, the leg rest is in its retracted position beneath the seat and in this position, the leg rest is almost entirely concealed by the side frames 1 and 2, and permits unobstructed access to and from the seat when one is sitting down or arising from the seat. Whenever one sitting in the chair exerts backward pressure against the seat unit, as by pressing forwardly against the side frames 1 and 2, the seat unit will move backwardly on the tracks 11 to the position shown in Figure 2. In doing so, the backward movement of the seat unit, acting through the levers 27 and links 30 will cause the leg rest to swing to the position shown in Figure 2, in which position the flanges 35 of the brackets 34 engage the seat .unit side frames 6 to support the front portion of the seat. In the embodiment illustrated, the leg rest swings through an arc of about to bring the leg rest substantially to horizontal position. If, now, when the chair is thus in reclining position, it is desired to resume upright position, it is only necessary to exert slight downward pressure on the leg rest, accompanied, if desired, by backward pressure against the side frames 1 and 2 to cause the seat to move forwardly, while at the same time the leg rest swings beneath the seat.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A reclining chair comprising a base unit having opposed, spaced side frames, a seat unit located between said side frames, means for mounting the rear portion of said seat unit on said base unit for combined translational and rotational movement with respect thereto, a leg rest located between said side frames and mounted on fixed pivots on said side frames, and means connecting said leg rest to said seat unit comprising a link pivotally connected to said leg rest and a lever pivotally mounted and the other end of said lever being pivotally connected 7 to said seat unit to cause said leg rest to swing on its fixed pivots as said seat unit moves with respect to said base unit. 2. A reclining chair as claimed in claim 1 in which said means for mounting the rear portion of saidseat unit comprises a roller and track, one of which is mounted on said base unit and the other of which is mounted on said seat unit. I

3.-A reclining chair as claimed in claim 1 in which "the pivotal mounting-of said lever is spaced rearwardiy from the pivotal mounting of said leg rest.

9 References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 607,293 Streit July 12, 1898 2,473,895 Mednick June 21, 1949 2,670,030 Richardson e Feb. 23, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 738,350 Great Britain Oct. 12,

1,131,243 France Oct. 15,1956 

